Jackson Street Roundhouse

Can’t recommend this place highly enough! We went with our 3 year old daughter and she nearly crapped her pants with excitement when we walked in (as did I).
You can explore old train cars, ring bells, drive a train simulator, play with toys, go on an actual real life train ride and on and on. It’s super fun for adults too as there is a lot of historical stuff to get lost in and free coffee!
The staff are so awesome — super great with kids and really helpful & knowledgable. There was also a food truck (
) outside in the back — delicious!
We were there from about 12−3pm and could’ve stayed longer but our daughter was starting to hallucinate because she was so worn out from the excitement.
Going here is a fantastic way to spend your day — regardless of age or whether or not you have kids.
Why are you still reading this? GO NOW!

Don’t you just love it when museums that are fun for two year olds are fun for adults too? I do, and Jackson Street Roundhouse is one of these places. $ 10 gets you into the train museum and on a 20 minute train ride.
My little guy loved the train conductor simulator. You sit in front of a screen that makes it look like you are driving along a train track and it even has all the buttons and switches of an old train. The kid NEVER sits still, and he was captivated by this thing for a good twenty minutes (that’s like 3 hours in toddler time for any non-​parents reading this).
We both enjoyed exploring all the old restored train cars and pretending we were going on a trip. I liked learning more about the history of trains in St Paul and imagining what this place must have looked like back in the day. There were also some great old signs, paintings and newspaper clippings mixed in with all the train memorabilia that I enjoyed checking out as well.
The staff here are excellent. They are all volunteers and you can tell that they are very passionate about what they do-​very knowledgeable and great with kids. Great Saturday morning family activity.

We did a birthday party here for a 6 year old. You get your own train car (3 tables) that’s handicapped accessible (a lot of the museum is accessible by wheelchair).
It included a ride on the train (Birthday boy rode in the engine). There is a lot to see and it was enjoyable for the whole family. Unless you are really a train family it’s probably worth a trip every couple of years.

The Jackson Street Roundhouse is part of the Minnesota Transportation Museum and affliated with the Osceola and St Crix Vlly Railway. The folks at this museum are all extremely friendly. Outside the grounds, BNSF railroad main line passes just outside the facility. The museum has a really interesting Centralised Traffic Control Panel screen showing in real time the trackage through the Twin Cities from the perspective of the system wide nerve center in Fort Worth, Tx. At any time, one may as for a personal guided tour of the shop area, and it is here that one can see projects such as NP 2156 steam engine.
In the main exhibit area of the museum area displayed five pieces of rolling stock; a highlight are two wonderfully restored coaches, the Gopher/​Grand Marais coach, 1892, and the Drover’s coach, 1893. One total surprise was seeing the Dan Patch or Minneapolis, St Paul, Rochester & Dubuque Electric Traction Co. 1913 #100 first internal combustion locomotive in America (rebuilt today from two 175 hp V8 to diesels). The museum also has a collection of classic public buses. I was given a personal tour of the machine shop and also the floor beneath the displayed engines. Talking about personalized tours. One other note, during my visit, the was a jazz trio playing background music.

This is a great place for kids and adults alike. City libraries hand out free passes to this museum as well among other touristy places in and around Twin Cities area. Otherwise, the entrance fee is $ 10 and includes a twenty minute bus ride on Jackson St through downtown St. Paul and a caboose ride too.
Inside this place is magical for history and train lovers. Old steam engines, coaches and some really old exhibits from early 19^th century and beginning of 20^th century. The caboose ride is cool. The roundhouse turntable is fascinating and believed to be one of the last of its kind in the country. One thing to remember is that the museum is open only on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
It’s a nice place for a weekend activity for kids and a cheap date for couples.

Another great, small, quirky museum. The transportation museum includes the Jackson Street Roundhouse, which predictably is mostly trains. They also have a pretty good bus, exhibit, including a vintage bus tour of transportation highlights of downtown St. Paul The employees here really know their history and do a nice job of relaying it to the public. The bust tour was probably the highlight, though my son really enjoyed the caboose ride. In the latter, they drag you in a vintage caboose about 100 yards up and down the tracks.
I think the train museum in Duluth has a better collection of restored trains, but the St. Paul Paul museum has the advantage of being in the roundhouse which is just really cool. Over the years, I’ve become kind of a train nerd and I love seeing the old Art Deco streamline trains. The sad thing about the museum is that you realize how fragile these things are even though they were made of steel. All that exists of the great lines of the 30s and 40s are brochures, which the museum has on display and a few artifacts like dishes and uniforms.
My son really enjoyed this museum. He especially enjoyed the play area which has an extensive Thomas the Tank collection. Most of the kids at the museums wound up there, while their parents either roamed the exhibits or just took advantage of the downtime to have a nice think.